


we could be the way forward

by CarnationDagger



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, One Shot, Paris (City), Running Away, Short, The X Factor Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29415486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarnationDagger/pseuds/CarnationDagger
Summary: Harry had a realisation. They leave.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Kudos: 6





	we could be the way forward

Harry stared at the perfectly made beds, a wave of what almost felt like regret washing over him. But it couldn’t be regret. Not when he had chosen himself.

Everything was gone anyway. Everything that had ever made this small room feel like home. The clothes were all shoved into backpacks and those backpacks were waiting at Harry’s feet by the door. It was time to go.

Someone moved up behind Harry and hooked their chin over his shoulder. Their arms wrapped around Harry’s waist. “Are you ready to go, love?” Louis. Of course it was Louis. Louis was the only one that had agreed to go with him. They’d asked Liam, Zayn, and Niall if they wanted to, but they had said no. They didn’t see the point. They couldn’t see the obvious future like Harry could. Louis said he didn’t understand either, but he had still agreed. Harry thinks he and Louis would follow each other off the edge of the earth if they had to. 

Harry tore his eyes off the bed he and Louis had shared for so long. “Yeah,” Harry turned in Louis’ arms and looked him in the eyes, “I’m ready to go.” They both knew Harry didn’t just mean he was ready to leave the house. They were leaving what they’d known for years. Harry had looked at the past, determined the future, and decided to leave. For good. 

Louis nodded, his eyes hopeful, if cautious. He still didn’t understand why they had to leave, but he did know that he trusted Harry. He trusted that Harry wouldn’t lead them into fire and flame. Louis took Harry’s hand and searched his face for any inkling of uncertainty. He found none. 

Harry squeezed Louis’ hand before letting go. He grabbed the two backpacks off the ground and slung one over his shoulder, offering the other to Louis. Louis took it and backed out of the doorway. Harry twined their fingers together again and led the way to the living room. Everyone was there to say goodbye. They had all said they’d fight for them, that they wouldn’t let legalities stop them. That they’d do the best they could. Harry couldn’t have predicted that everyone from their X-Factor season would support them. He’d expected a few, yes, people like Aiden, Cher, and of course the boys, but not everyone. Harry had never thought everyone would fight for them. 

Harry and Louis stood in front of them, a gaggle of mismatched people, each looking sad or resigned in their own ways. Liam, Zayn, and Niall had silent tears falling from their eyelashes. They didn’t understand why Harry and Louis were going to leave, but they did understand that they had to. Harry had tried to explain it to them, explain what had happened in the past, explain what he knew, but the concept was so absurd to them that they couldn’t grasp it. Harry didn’t blame them.

Louis let go of Harry’s hand and stepped toward the boys. None of them had known each other long, but they had still formed a nearly unbreakable bond. It almost felt as though they were always meant to go together, the five of them. It’s a shame two of them had to leave before they got that chance. 

Louis wrapped each of them in a hug, muttering in their ears, “Come see us if you’re ever in the area, yeah?” They all agreed. They each powered out a quiet, “Yeah, of course, Lou,” and left their goodbyes to him at that. 

When Harry stepped up, he didn’t say anything, just squeezed them tightly and hoped they could feel how much he wished he didn’t have to do this. How much he wished the world were different. 

It was Mary who pulled them away for a minute, speaking to them in hushed tones, “I know this is hard. I can’t blame you for leaving, not really.” She put their heads together and whispered something, something nearly inaudible, “You know what he’s done before. I’m happy you can see the signs.” Her eyes flashed with meaning and Harry and Louis knew who she was talking about. 

Louis kept his hand on the small of Harry’s back the entire time, and when Mary had let them go, Louis took them back to the boys. He pulled them into a tightly woven hug. Everyone in the room graciously ignored their quiet sobbing. 

...

After half an hour in a cab, Harry and Louis were on the Eurostar, barreling under the English channel. Louis had been exhausted from the emotional output of the day and had fallen asleep almost as soon as he had sat down. Harry, however, was wide awake, worrying. They had gotten cash from their families and their friends, but he was worried it wasn’t enough. He was worried they wouldn’t be able to find a place to stay. He was worried about a million different things. 

Harry burrowed into his head, planning and thinking and coming up with solutions to hypothetical problems. It wasn’t until Louis poked his cheek that he realised they had to get off. The train had made a few stops already, but this was theirs. 

Harry stood, hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders, took Louis’ hand, and stepped off the train. Immediately he was hit with the sound of people shouting in a language he didn’t know and the smells of someplace that definitely wasn’t home. Louis gently tugged him along, forging their path out of the station and onto the streets. Harry had been here before, but only for a few weeks before going back to England. Now he was looking to make a life here and damn if that wasn’t scary. 

But as he and Louis stood there on a sidewalk in the centre of Paris, he thought maybe he had done the right thing. Maybe they could make this work.


End file.
